Missiles - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
North Korea has test-fired a ballistic missile defying global pressure and warnings from the United States and its main ally, China.

The test was conducted from the Pukchang region present in the north of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

The test has failed and it is North Korea’s fourth successive unsuccessful missile test since March.

The missile launched is expected to be a medium-range weapon known as a KN-17 and appears to have disintegrated within minutes of taking off.

In February, it successfully launched a new intermediate-range ballistic missile defying global pressure that is capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.

Similarly, it also successfully tested ballistic missiles on March 6. But since then it has caused a series of failed missile tests.

The reasons behind the failed tests are largely unknown.

ANSWER: Minuteman III

Explanation:
An unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile was launched during an operational test from an air base in the state of California, amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a single test re-entry vehicle was launched on 26th April 2017 by a combined team of United States Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen.

According to US Air Force, the ICBM’s re-entry vehicle, which contained a telemetry package used for operational testing, travelled to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, approximately 4,200 miles away from the launch site.

The ICBM test launch program demonstrates the operational credibility of the Minuteman III.

It also ensures the US ability to maintain a strong, credible nuclear deterrent as a key element of national security and the security of allies and partners.

The Minuteman III is one of three legs of the US nuclear triad, which also comprises strategic bombers such as the B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit, as well as submarine launched ballistic missions, provided by Navy submarines.

Though US Air Force Global Strike Command routinely conducts ICBM test launches from Vandenberg, the latest is still a great concern amid heightened tensions between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Minuteman III: Know More

• Unit cost : $7,000,000
• Guidance system : Inertial
• Warhead : Nuclear: W62, W78, or (from 2006) W87
• Launch platform : Missile Silo (MLCC)

ANSWER: Hormoz 2

Explanation:
Iran media reported the Revolutionary Guard has successfully tested ballistic missile Hormoz 2. The missile destroyed the target from 155 miles.

The sea launched ballistic missile was tested last week. President Trump has imposed sanctions on entities or individuals who support the ballistic missile program of Iran.

Several sophisticated rockets were also launched by Iran during military exercises in the central desert of the country in February.

Iran: Know More

• Capital: Tehran
• Code: +98
• Currency: Iranian rial
• President: Hassan Rouhani
• Supreme leader: Ali Khamenei

ANSWER: Japan sea

Explanation:
Nuclear-armed North Korea fired four ballistic missiles east of the peninsula on March 6, with Japan saying three of them landed in its waters.

Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile last month, its first such launch since October, which Seoul said was aimed at testing the response from the new US administration of President Donald Trump.

Seoul said several missiles were filed into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, and that South Korea and the US were closely analysing tracking data for further details.

In terms of the range, it is around 1,000 kilometres.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said North Korea fired four missiles almost simultaneously, three of which landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

In response to the launch, South Korea’s acting president Hwang Kyo-Ahn convened an emergency National Security Council (NSC) meeting, the presidential office said in a statement.

Seoul and Washington launched annual joint military exercises last week that infuriate Pyongyang, which condemns them as provocative rehearsals for invasion.

North Korea has regularly carried out actions in protest against the US-South Korea exercises, last year firing seven ballistic missiles during them.

That rocket–said by the North to use solid fuel and to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead–flew east for about 500 kilometres before falling into the Sea of Japan, South Korea said at the time.

North Korea is under heavy international sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes.

Last month, China–the North’s chief ally and diplomatic protector–announced a suspension of all coal imports from the North until the end of the year, depriving Pyongyang of a crucial source of foreign currency.

China’s foreign ministry said Beijing and Pyongyang were still “friendly neighbours” but added it remained opposed to the North’s nuclear ambitions.

North Korea is barred under UN resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology. But six sets of UN sanctions since Pyongyang’s first nuclear test in 2006 have failed to halt its drive for what it insists are defensive weapons.

Last year the country conducted two nuclear tests and numerous missile launches in its quest to develop a nuclear weapons system capable of hitting the continental US.

North Korea: Know More

• Capital: Pyongyang
• Supreme leader: Kim Jong-un
• Premier: Pak Pong-ju
• Currency: North Korean won
• Population: 24.9 million (2013) World Bank